Finance graduate degrees have often been considered as a specialist course, rather than an obvious first choice when compared to postgraduate Business Studies or even Banking. Yet Finance graduates are being more sought after by all sectors, especially since the banking crisis. It seems the world wants qualified specialists in a time of uncertainty and change.

Why You Should Still Consider Studying Finance

It’s over a year since the credit crunch swept the financial world and the shock waves were particularly felt by the thousands of financial workers that found themselves unemployed.  The vast majority of the major financial employers have been keen to avoid the mistakes of the past though so graduate, internships and other entry level programmes have continued, albeit with smaller numbers.

As well as smaller numbers a couple of clear trends have emerged:

One of the trends that has been very clear is the rise of the post-graduate internship.  Traditionally internships in the UK have been over the Summer before the final year of undergraduate study, but last year many firms have broadened the definition to cover 3, 6 or even 9 month contracts for people who have just graduated from both Bachelor and Masters level degrees.  The appeal of these to the employer is clear – they can use them as prolonged interviews safe in the knowledge that the employment is due to end if either individual or business performance make a permanent contract infeasible.  But it’s also great news for the applicant – they are getting the foot in the door, valuable experience, building a network of contacts, and a get out clause if they don’t like the employer too.

Another feature is the shift to Risk, Compliance and Operations recruiting and away from direct entry into the Front Office (client facing roles).  The traditional route into Finance was always via Operations, but the boom years changed that; this reversion will mean that again the new recruits will be able to gain the understanding and skills needed across all banking divisions, rather than being immediately labelled as a specialist.  That’s particularly useful when you find that you don’t like that specialism after all – or worse, that your function has become obsolete.

The less well known banks have faired better than many of the bulge brackets and have maintained or even increased their intakes of graduates.  The reputations of these firms grown, but their profile amongst the general public is still quite low, so the number of applications they receive is relatively low and having them on your CV has become much more desirable.

Graduate Programme numbers are likely to remain low for a couple of years, and competition for internships will remain strong. If you want to stand out from the other applications you will need to show how motivated and knowledgeable you are and therefore should seriously consider studying a finance degree.